Should we pay higher taxes to fix potholes? Readers have their say

Earlier this week I argued for higher taxes to fix Britain’s crumbling roads. Here's what you had to say in response.

It’s not every day you’ll see a financial website call for higher taxes.

On Tuesday, I argued that fixing potholes would require us to pay more, either through tolls or higher taxes for all of us.

A pothole is now fixed every 17 seconds, but councils say they lack the funds to make the permanent repairs that roads need.

Now loveMONEY readers have replied with their own suggestions on how to solve the pothole problem and pay for the £9.79 billion bill for a ‘one time catch up’.

If you’ve haven’t read the article yet, you can find it here and please vote in our poll on how to deal with taxes.

Opinion: if we’re going to fix potholes permanently, we need to raise taxes

"The driving fraternity already pay more than enough"

Paying the enormous bill to fix potholes is made harder because Fuel Duty not bringing in as much cash as you’d expect, especially as electric vehicles become more popular.

So, how do we make up the shortfall?

Many loveMONEY readers believed that cutting or redistributing spending would be more effective than raising taxes.

‘CliveRead’ said we should “Scrap HS2 and distribute the obscene £56 billion plus that this would swallow between roads, the NHS, Police etc.”

The HS2 rail project will connect London with northern cities and was originally meant to cost £34 billion, but the Government later revised that figure to £55.7 billion.

Reader ‘Grumpy 1975’ argued that “The driving fraternity already pay more than enough in the form of Road Tax, Fuel Duty [and] VAT on the above How about actually spending these taxes on the roads instead of diverting these funds elsewhere.”

However, another reader, 'Brewerdave', instead called for a short term increase in Fuel Duty “so that high mileage drivers are paying more towards road maintenance.

"Longer term, the ‘hole’ should be filled by increased central Government grants to local Councils funded by a general increase in income tax rates.”

Pothole damage: how to claim compensation from your local council

'I've rarely seen a proper repair for years'

Edmund King, the president of the AA, has called for a ‘Road Miles’ toll, costing less than 1p a mile, with ‘free’ miles for rural and electric vehicle drivers.

Reader 'Kippermanbike' says he is willing to pay a toll, provided roads were fixed first.

Another problem, explained Kippermanbike, was that repairs were often shoddy:

“I reported a hole in the road via the council website. Within two weeks it was filled in. However, within another two weeks, the hole has reopened as it was done as cheap and quick as possible. False economy.”

Reader ‘Me.’ agreed: “More tax money isn't needed or appropriate. We need more care taken when repairs are done. I've rarely seen a proper repair for years.

“A new specification is needed for them and must apply to ALL patching work including councils. Too many corners are being cut.”

Opinion: councils are the wrong target for your Council Tax rage

'We can't have our cake and eat it'

One new proposal that I didn’t cover in my article was that of transport Chris Grayling, to force utility companies to pay for potholes they’ve created.

At present, utility firms that dig roads (such as to repair pipes) need to guarantee their work for two years: Grayling wants this extended to five.

Reader ‘Me.’ wanted rules to go further: “We should fund PROPER, ONE-TIME repairs by surcharging utilities at £20 per customer, per year for about 5-6yrs, as 55% of potholes are associated with utility reinstatements.*”

*loveMONEY was unable to verify the 55% figure

However, as reader ‘Overtone’ pointed out, forcing utility companies to contribute more could simply result in them passing that cost increase to customers, in terms of higher bills. They further argued that higher quality repairs would also cost more.

“Sorry folks, but we can't have our cake and eat it. If we want things done properly we have to pay more.”

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Have your say

You may have noticed that we haven’t talked about poll results in this article.

That’s because, at the time of writing, we didn’t have enough responses to produce statistically reliable results.

That’s why we need your input: vote in our poll to see what loveMONEY readers think about potholes.

Finally, if your car has been damaged by a pothole, make sure you read our guide to successfully claiming compensation.